The Book of Acts

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:” (Acts 1:1-3)

After the recording of the life of Christ, His death on the cross, His resurrection, and the commission given to the apostles by Christ we have recorded for us a history of the acts of the apostles. It is important to note at the outset of this study that the Book of Acts is a record of some of the acts of some of the apostles. It is not an exhaustive record of all the actions of the apostles or the history of the church after the ascension of Jesus, but, just as John records (John 20:30-31), the information that has been given to us in the book of Acts is given so we may know about the church, and about God’s plan of salvation. Acts also serves as a bridge between the Gospel accounts and the epistles. Without the book of Acts the student of God’s Word may have some difficulty understanding what is being said in the epistles.

The author of the book of Acts, ultimately, is God. All Scripture is given by the Holy Spirit inspiring man (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and is given to us for doctrine. The human penman or the book of Acts is Luke. Luke records two books in the Bible, the first being the Gospel account that bears his name and the second is the book of Acts. Luke was a physician and a historian. Throughout both the Gospel account of Luke and the book of Acts, Luke is interested in delivering a historical record of the events that took place during the life of Christ and in the lives of the apostles. Luke was also a traveling companion with the apostle Paul. Some of the verses in the book of Acts Luke places himself with Paul, which can be seen in Luke’s use of the pronoun “we” (Acts 16:10). Perhaps the best evidence for Luke’s authorship of Acts can be found in the one to whom both books were addressed. Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1 address the letters to Theophilus (an interesting note about the name Theophilus: this name is a compound word consisting of “theos” which in the Greek means “God” and “philo” which is one of four words in the Greek meaning “love;” put the two thoughts together and Theophilus means “lover of God”).

Luke writes this letter to Theophilus to record the history of the events that took place after the ascension of Jesus Christ. The Gospel account of Luke ends with Jesus commissioning His apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they receive power from on high and then to preach the Gospel to the world, and after He gives them this charge, Jesus ascends into heaven. Acts begins where Luke ends. In the beginning of the book of Acts Jesus is with His apostles in the city of Jerusalem, where He ascends into heaven. After His ascension the apostles keep the commands of Jesus and stay in the city of Jerusalem and receive power from the Holy Spirit. After receiving this power the apostles begin to speak in different languages (“tongues”) and begin to preach the Good News of the Savior. On the Day of Pentecost when the apostles preach the Gospel, the message lands on honest hearts that cry out “what shall we do” (Acts 2:37) and the apostles (being inspired by the Holy Spirit) command them to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). After hearing these words, some three-thousand obey the commands and God added them to the church (Acts 2:38-47). After this wonderful begin to the church the apostles continue preaching the message of Jesus to all that will hear. At times the Gospel would be gladly received and at other times the apostles would face opposition for their preaching but just as Peter and John faced opposition that boldly proclaimed “we ought to obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29).

Luke also records for us how God saves man, and many have stated that the book of Acts could be titled “the book of conversions” as it records the conversions of many throughout the book. Just as Romans 10:17 states that faith comes by hearing God’s Word, the book of Acts shows how through the preaching of the message of Jesus that hearts were pricked and after hearing what God expected from them and obeying those commands, God saved them. We have already mentioned those that were saved on the Day of Pentecost, and after the beginning of the church the apostles continue to help others be converted. The Ethiopian Eunuch had the message of Jesus taught to him, and was baptized (Acts 8:26ff.). The household of Cornelius had the Gospel taught to them (Acts 10:34-48). The Philippian jailer was taught the Gospel by Paul and was baptized (Acts 16:30-33). Saul of Tarsus was one that caused havoc among the church as he persecuted the church (Acts 8:1-3), but as he was on his way to Damascus he was met by Jesus and told to go wait in the city where it would be told him what to do (Acts 9:6). This conversion account may be the strongest argument made by the Word of God to prove what God expects for man to be saved. Notice Paul met and received words from Jesus in person but was still told to go to Damascus to be told what to do. Paul went to Damascus and fasted and prayed for three days (Acts 9:8-11) yet he still had to wait to be told what to do. After Ananias was told to go find Paul, he met Paul and instructed him to be baptized, and wash away his sins (Acts 9:11-17; 22:16) and receiving his strength Paul began to preach the Gospel, helping others obey the same truth he did. There are many other conversion accounts given throughout the book of Acts that help us to understand what God expects from us in order to be saved.

God, through His infinite wisdom, gave us this wonderful book to teach us about the beginning of the church and to help show us how to be saved. May we be like the Bereans and study this wonderful book diligently and obey the teachings found within it.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)